Done to a T
by ToDifferentToBeReal
Summary: An X-Men First Class AU in which Erik owns a restaurant. Written for a prompt at lj 1stclass-kink.


Title: Done to a T

Fandom: X-Men First Class

Pairing: Charles/Erik, Hank/Raven

Rating: NC-17

Beta: GuessingHu(tumblr)

Notes: Written for 1stclass-kink on live journal. Prompt here: 1stclass-kink. livejournal. com/6084. html? thread=9155268t9155268 (no spaces)

Set in present rather than the 60s

Employees from Hellfire who were not in First Class were pulled from the comic canon members of the Hellfire Club

Didn't intended to include Moira but I needed at least one more waitress

I know next to nothing about the restaurant industry. Everything I know has come from movies, namely the movie No Reservations so sorry for anything I got wrong.

Erik's character is a bit more relaxed than in the movie because his life had obviously not been the same.

Azazel was introduced in the comics during "The Draco" storyline so being as lazy as I am I just used Draco as his last name.

Last, this is my first X-Men First Class fic. I hope it's ok

Erik Lehnsherr sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. Dropping his arms back down to rest on the desk again, he picked up the documents he was looking at. He glared back down at the numbers again. The restaurant wasn't making as much profit as he had hoped it would at this stage.

But Erik supposed he should be grateful that he was even making money, even if it was only a small amount. He had thrown all of his money into this place and after months of minimal success, he had been worried that he would have to close the place down. He'd been infinitely relieved when they'd started to make more money, to become more popular.

Erik turned from his desk and stood. Glancing at the clock, he realized the late hour. With a deep sigh, he decided it was time to get home. He left out the back, the locking the door before turning to the motorbike setting a dozen feet. As he walked to the bike, he pulled his leather jacket on over the black turtleneck he wore. Pulling around to the street that ran in front of the restaurant, he glared down the road at Shaw's place, Hellfire.

Once upon a time, when Erik's dream of owning his own restaurant was a far off fancy, Sebastian Shaw had been his mentor, teaching him the culinary arts. Shaw's methods of teaching weren't the best. In fact, they were terrible. Shaw could make amazing dishes but he certainly couldn't teach you how to make your own. Erik had had no other choice though. As a new face in the culinary industry, he hadn't found anyone willing to take him on, except for Shaw. It was pure luck that Erik had shown an amazing natural talent. He'd left Shaw for another mentor and learned far more than he ever would have with Shaw.

Erik had always had a sneaking suspicion that Shaw had never gotten over such a precious talent slipping through his fingers. Erik considered that suspicion confirmed when several months after he'd purchased this building, began turning it into his restaurant and news had spread of the soon to open bistro, Shaw had bought out the failing restaurant down the street, done a little renovating and opened around the same time as Erik had. They'd been competing near a year now and Erik figured that he was starting to come out on top but not by much.

Erik had hired Hank McCoy, a young, up-and-coming talent in the industry, as head chef. Despite Erik's own amazing talent at creating dishes, he found that he was not often in the kitchen so he required someone who could nearly match his skills in the kitchen. Erik knew that Shaw had tried to counter with Janos Quested, another promising young man, but Erik had done his research before hiring Hank. He knew that Quested couldn't match the young McCoy. The rest of Erik's kitchen staff were all magnificent chefs though not all were as young as Hank, which surprisingly didn't cause any tension among the staff though. Each of his employees got along remarkably well, working together like a well oiled machine.

Hank considered food to be a science and, on top of making food that tasted delicious and looked gorgeous, he could do some damn cool things with dishes as well; often bringing literal science into the kitchen.

Erik knew every one of Shaw's other employees as well and Erik had made sure to one up him at each step. The hostess at Hellfire was a pretty little thing by the name of Emma Frost and his wait staff consisted of characters such as Harry Leland, Donald Pierce and Madelyne Proyer. Erik had heard from reliable resources that none of them were particularly kind to their customers, which he suspected was why he was beginning to come out on top. He had carefully chosen his own staff. Angel Salvadore, his own hostess, was sassy but she was always bright and dealt well with people, showing them kindness and making them feel welcome. His own wait staff included Armando Munoz and Moira MacTaggert who treated all customers as if they were extremely important people even the occasional rowdy or rude customer. Because the restaurant was fairly small, he'd been getting by with just the two and himself working on wait staff but, with the increasing popularity of his bistro, he suspected that he may have to hire another person. After all with everyone on staff still in school(what the hell had he been thinking when he hired only students) he frequently found himself short staffed and having to cover the missing persons' job himself.

Erik figured the only place Shaw had him beat was when it came to busboys. Shaw had one, though he wasn't much of a boy. Azazel Draco was tall, silent and a bit scary looking, but he got his job done efficiently and quickly. Erik had hired on two boys who were still very much boys, despite what they liked to think. Sean Cassidy and Alex Summers worked hard but both were clumsy as all fuck. Sean managed to break at least one plate and five glasses every day and Erik was beginning to think he broke more than he washed. Alex didn't break nearly as much tableware as Sean but he had managed to set a few ill placed cloths on fire. Honestly, Erik should fire them both but the two tried hard, getting along with the rest of the staff and treating customers with kindness and respect. If they weren't so damned clumsy Erik may have put them on wait staff.

As Erik pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex, he shook off thoughts of Shaw and the restaurant. It was nearing midnight when he fell into bed, making it one of those rare nights that he would get six hours of sleep. As soon as he clicked off the light, he was asleep.

Angel was leaning against the building when he arrived the next morning with Hank in tow. She smirked at him as he unlocked the restaurant. "You look like you woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. Get laid?"

Erik snorted and shot her a look, "With my schedule?"

Angel laughed and followed him and Hank into the restaurant.

Erik looked over his shoulder at Angel as she followed him to his office, "You're here awfully early."

Angel shrugged. "My class got canceled at the last minute so I just came straight here."

Erik nodded as he hung his jacket and sat at his desk.

"So, what's on the agenda?" Angel leaned on the door frame.

Erik waved a stack of papers at her, "Applications."

"Oh, you're hiring another wait staffer?" Her eyes lit.

"I figured it was about time," Erik nodded.

"Anything I can do to help speed up the process?" Angel smiled and stepped farther into the office.

Erik regarded her for a moment then gestured to the seat opposite his. He handed her half the stack and gave her instructions on how to sort through them to find someone suitable for the job.

It was near lunch and Erik had yet to find an application that jumped out at him. He had a few laid aside to possibly call in for an interview.

"Hey, I saw her yesterday," Angel called holding up an application. Erik reached over to take it and read the name, Raven Darkholme.

"She came in and said she just wanted to see if we'd looked at her application yet. She wanted to speak with you but you were otherwise occupied." She continued.

Erik finished reading through the application and set it down in the pile of those that he intended to call later. But for some reason he had the urge to call now. He was tempted to simply stamp down the urge but what could it hurt and she had come to try and speak with him personally. So he pulled the application back to set in front of him and picked up the phone.

"Hello, Raven speaking," A cheery voice called over the line.

"Raven, this is Erik Lehnsherr." He said. "The owner of The Great White I've looked over your application and I would like to set up an interview."

By the time Erik set the phone back on the receiver he had scheduled an interview for tomorrow at 10:30 in the morning.

Angel smirked and dropped the rest of the applications in her hand in the no pile. Erik frowned, "We're not done going through these."

"I talked to her for a bit yesterday," She responded standing and moving to the door. "You'll hire her. Besides, it's almost time for lunch."

As if that statement were a cue of some sort Armando appeared in the doorway and said, "Hank and Alex were making lunch and Alex managed to catch something on fire. Again."

"Damn it," Erik pushed up from his seat and went to take care of the problem (and get Alex away from the stove. What was Hank thinking?).

Erik was sitting at his desk the next morning, flipping through more applications. He'd just set aside the applications to move on to something else when he heard a voice calling out, "Hello? Is anyone here?"

Erik stepped out of his office to see a blonde woman standing just inside the doorway. He checked his watch, 10:15, she was a bit early. That was fine with him, better early than late.

"Hi, my name is Raven," She smiled and walked forward, heels clicking quietly on the floor. "I'm here for an interview."

Erik smiled back and shook the hand she extended, "Erik Lehnsherr, come back to my office."

Raven was dressed professionally, a light grey pea coat over a dark shirt with a black pencil skirt, stockings and heels. Once in the office, she sat down across from him, the polite smile still on her face.

"Alright, tell me about yourself." Erik jumped right in, folding his hands together and sitting back to listen.

The interview went quite well and Erik figured that Angel was probably right; he would most likely hire Raven. He liked her and he almost wanted to hire her now. However, he was ever practical. He had no clue how she would fit with the other employees, among other things. He felt he should probably interview a few more applicants before making a final decision. He drew the interview to a close by moving around his desk to shake her hand again as she stood. "Thank you for coming in today."

"Thank you for your time," Raven responded as they walked to the door.

Erik nodded and watched her walk the rest of the way to the entrance of the restaurant. As she approached the door Angel and Armando came in. He glanced at his watch, it was 11 o' clock, almost time for lunch.

Erik continued to watch as Raven interacted with his two employees.

"Raven," Angel greeted. "Just finished your interview?"

Raven nodded smiling, "Yes, just finished."

"Did it go well?"

Raven glanced back at Erik, "I think so," She murmured, "I'm not sure though, he's sort of hard to read."

Angel laughed, "He's always like that. No worries, I'm sure you got the job."

Raven looked to the man next to Angel and smiled, "Hi, I'm Raven."

Armando nodded and held out his hand, "Armando, nice to meet you."

"Armando is a waiter here too," Angel informed her.

Erik watched the three chat for a bit and found himself growing more and more sure that he would hire Raven.

Suddenly, a boy with a mop of reddish brown hair burst in through the doors and rushed past the group of three. He knocked into Raven and almost toppled the poor girl. He didn't seem to realize his mistake as he continued to rush on.

"Sean," Erik called and when the boy looked over at him, he jerked his head in Raven's direction.

Sean turned around and looked over at Raven who was being steadied by Armando and Angel, both asking if she was ok. The girl had a bit of a shocked expression on her face that flashed briefly to anger at his ignoring her but she quickly composed herself and responded to the inquiries of the other two with an affirmative.

Angel turned to glare briefly at Sean and then shake her head.

Sean rushed back over to the group and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder, "I'm so sorry," He said, "I ran into you didn't I?"

Raven shook her head, "No harm done."

"I'm sorry," He repeated, "I was in a bit of a hurry."

"And he's an unbelievable klutz," Angel commented.

"Hey!" Sean turned and shot a baleful look at her.

Raven giggled, "Really it's ok, you just startled me."

Suddenly, Erik had made his decision. In the span of a few minutes, he had seen the two most important qualities from the girl that he wanted in his wait staffers. He knew now that he would hire her, may as well do it now. "Raven," He called across the room and four pairs of eyes were turned in his direction. "When can you start?"

The girl's eyes widened in shock and she said, "Right away."

Erik smiled, "You're a student right? Bring in a copy of your class schedule for me so I can work your hours around your classes, say, tomorrow around now?"

Raven nodded emphatically, tomorrow was Saturday and she didn't have classes.

Erik smirked and turned back into his office, closing the door behind him.

Raven looked over at Angel and a wide smile broke out on her face. Angel's grin was just about as bright and excited as hers.

A few weeks later, Erik was immensely glad he'd hired Raven. She fit in with the other employees right away and having another person on wait staff took a bit of stress off of him. She worked every week day, after her classes, saying she had nothing else to do anyway, and only requested that any days she didn't work be Friday or Saturday. They wouldn't get an explanation for her odd schedule until after they met her brother.

Charles stepped up to the bistro and looked up at the glowing sign. It was near closing but he still had a good ten minutes before Raven's shift ended. He should probably wait in the car for Raven but he had yet to be in the restaurant she worked. He also knew that she wouldn't be out in exactly ten minutes, she would most likely still have to clean up.

Once he pulled open the door and stepped inside, the hostess looked up at him and smiled, "Sir, I'm sorry but we're just about to close."

"Oh, no," Charles shook his head, "I'm here to pick up Raven. I was just early and figured I'd take a look inside."

The girl's smile grew, "Oh, I'll go get her then."

"No need, I can wait," He said.

"She's not busy, her section is empty," Then she walked off headed toward the back.

Charles sighed but took the time to admire the restaurant. It looked very interested inside, having a very modern flair. Everything looked to be done in metal, mirrors and glass. The floors were black marble, or perhaps granite, and the scattered tables were glass and metal. The black leather booths matched the black cushion of the metal chairs and the tall bars stools that lined the brightly lit bar that ran along one wall. Adorning the walls were multiple sheets of metal and mirrors which would have given off a cold, industrial aura had it not been for the warm lighting that bounced off the reflective surfaces, transforming the place into a modern, stylish restaurant.

Charles' gaze shifted to the other side of the room when someone stepped up beside the bar. Someone tall and handsome, who was currently flipping through a stack of papers. He didn't notice Charles standing by the door until he turned, set the papers on the bar and looked up, right at Charles.

"Hello," He said, "Can I help you?"

"I'm here for Raven," Charles managed after a moment, "The hostess went to fetch her."

"I see," He responded.

Charles felt the impulse to add, "I'm her brother."

"I see," He repeated and appeared to brighten slightly, then after a moments pause he moved forward and held out a hand, "Erik Lehnsherr, I own this place."

"Charles Xavier," He grasped Erik's hand and shook.

Angel peeked into the kitchen and saw Raven helping Sean with the dishes; he'd probably broken too many for Erik to deal with tonight. "Raven," She called, "Someone is here for you."

Raven looked over and dried her hands. She exited the kitchen with Angel and who leaned toward her and pointed toward the door, "Is he your boyfriend? He's adorable."

"Ew, Angel," Raven's face scrunched up in distaste. "That's my brother."

Angel giggled, "Sorry, but does that mean he's single?"

Raven shot her a look.

"Alright, alright," Angel backed off and turned to go back into the kitchen.

Raven sighed and turned her attention to the door where her brother stood speaking with her boss. "Charles?"

Her brother immediately looked in her direction and grinned, "Hello, Raven. I was just a bit early and decided to come inside. Are you ready to go then?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my things."

When she returned Erik and Charles were shaking hands.

"Nice to meet you," Charles smiled.

"Pleasure," Erik shoved his hand back into his pocket as soon as Charles dropped it.

"See you later, Erik," Raven called as she passed him, smirking as she slid her arm around her brothers.

As they slid into the car, Raven turned to Charles smug look still in place.

Charles glanced at her briefly, "What?" He asked as he started the car and pulled from the curb.

"Nothing, nothing," Raven said and quickly steered the topic in a different direction. "You should come eat at the restaurant. I think you'd like it. Hank's a great chef. I've heard Erik is fantastic, too. Apparently he's one of the best around or something. But he's not in the kitchen much so I can't really tell you from personal experience."

Charles thought for a moment then nodded, "Alright, how about tomorrow then? Class gets out at seven, I'll be there at eight."

Raven smiled, "Good, I swear you'll love it."

The next night, Charles arrived at precisely eight o' clock. The hostess, whom Raven had told him was Angel, smiled in recognition when she saw him.

"Here for Raven again?"

"No, actually, I'm here to eat tonight," Charles smiled in return.

"Wonderful," Angel responded, "Follow me and I'll show you to your seat."

Charles was looking over the menu when his waiter approached the table.

"Hello, Mr. Xavier," Charles looked up and was startled to see Erik standing next to the table.

"Mr. Lehnsherr," Charles smiled.

"I'll be your server for the evening. Can I get you something to drink?" Erik asked.

He must have seen the question in Charles' eyes because he explained, "One of my waiters has classes late so she has today off. Usually I take over Angel's job and she waits but tonight I decided otherwise."

Charles nodded, "Well, then, I think a glass of wine would be splendid."

Erik rattled off a listing of the wines they carried.

"The Butterfly Riesling, please," Charles said, "and before you take off I know what I would like to eat. I'll have the roasted quail."

Erik nodded, smiled and reached to take the menu, "I'll put your order in right away."

When Charles finished his meal later, he found he agreed with Raven. They did have wonderful food. The place was pretty empty now but Charles stayed put, after all he still had to wait for Raven to finish her shift.

"You look a bit bored," Erik said as he slid into the seat across from Charles.

Charles shook his head, "I still have to wait for Raven, so I best not leave, only I didn't bring a book or anything."

"Talking to someone is better than a book anyway," Erik proclaimed.

"Shirking work to talk with me? I'm flattered." Charles chuckled.

"Well, there isn't much work to be done," Erik looked around at the empty tables. "My section is cleared out and no one else will come in, we're closing soon."

Charles leaned forward on the table, "Alright, then, we'll chat."

"Tell me about yourself, Mr. Xavier."

"First of all I would prefer that you call me Charles," He said.

"Then you call me Erik."

"Done," Charles nodded, "What would you like to know?"

"The basics first," Erik leaned back in his chair, getting comfortable for their conversation. "Where do you work?"

"I'm a professor at the University," Charles also settled comfortably in his chair.

"Oh? Of what?"

"I specialize in genetics and genetic mutations." The conversation spun off onto the topic of genetic mutations. Erik could tell that Charles was fascinated by his line of work. There was passion in his voice as he spoke of even the most miniscule mutations. He started to go into detail about which genes caused eye color and how the mutation of blue eyes had occurred long ago in one single common ancestor, at a time when everyone had brown eyes. He moved on briefly to heterochromia before he suddenly stopped, worrying that he was boring Erik. He voiced his worries but Erik laughed it off. He was actually very much delighting in Charles' tangent. The topic itself was interesting but Charles' passion on the subject fascinated him further and Erik was rather enjoying listening to him.

Nonetheless when Charles requested that he speak a bit about himself, he obliged. He told Charles how he'd found a love of cooking through his mother. He told stories of her teaching him how to cook and how he had never met anyone who could prepare food as well as she did. He wasn't usually this open with anyone, let alone with someone he'd known for two days, but there was something about Charles that prompted him to share things that he never shared with anyone else.

The topic of conversation shifted again, this time to their mutual love of motorbikes. Charles told him he had several in the garage at home, inadvertently revealing his wealth and forcing him to briefly explain that he had been born into money before returning to the topic of the bikes. Erik didn't think that Charles seemed like the type who would love motorbikes. He told him exactly that and Charles laughed.

"I play the part of professor well don't I?" He grinned, "I think my students would get a kick out of me riding up in casual clothes on a motorbike, don't you?"

Erik snorted, "I'm sure they would. Especially with Raven on the back."

Charles coughed, "Yes, another reason why I don't ride the motorbikes much. I think that someone would find it inappropriate for me to ride to work with a pretty student on my bike everyday."

Erik nodded.

Charles glanced around at the empty restaurant and said, "Speaking of Raven, the chef, Hank I think that was his name, I do believe she fancies him." Charles smirked.

Erik chuckled, "And I do believe you're right. She teases him to no end. Hank hasn't the slightest clue."

Charles opened his mouth to continue but a sharp "Ahem!" drew their attention.

Charles smiled sheepishly at Raven.

She just glared back, "It is very late. I do believe," she mocked sarcastically. "that it's time to go. Some of us have class in the morning."

Charles glanced down at his watch, "Oh! Oh my. She's right, I best be going. It was very nice speaking with you, Erik. Hopefully I'll be seeing you again soon."

The two shook hands and Charles followed Raven out the door. He glanced back to see Erik locking said door and waved before turning back around.

Raven ignored him as they approached the car.

"Raven," Charles called.

She glared darkly at him.

He sighed, "I know why you're mad. We were just conversing."

"Well I would appreciate if you didn't converse about me." She shot back.

He sighed again, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again ok?"

"Doubtful," She slid into the passengers seat but her mood appeared significantly lightened as she smirked at him.

"What?" He asked.

"It's ok though, because I can just tell everyone who you have a crush on."

Charles frowned but quickly caught on as he watched her smirk grow. "Raven, no. First of all, I am a grown man. I don't have crushes. Second, I barely know the man."

"You sure talked for a long time tonight," Raven gave him another smug look.

"It was just that, talking," He said.

"Sure, sure," Raven nodded, still smirking, but she was quiet the rest of the trip home.

A week later the restaurant received an unexpected and quite unwelcome guest. Charles was at the restaurant for dinner that night and noticed them as they walked through the door but thought nothing of the two strangers.

Then Angel appeared at Erik's back and leaned down to mutter something in his ear. Erik turned in his seat so fast, Charles worried the man may end up with whip-lash. Anger bloomed on Erik's face and his body tensed.

"Erik?"Charles asked, reaching out to press a hand to Erik's shoulder.

Erik turned around and looked at Charles, slightly stunned.

"Are you alright?" Charles smiled, gently.

Erik stared for a moment. "Yes, I just..." He turned back to stare at the man across the room.

Charles followed his gaze, "Shaw?"

Erik nodded and turned to Angel. "It's fine; treat him like any other guest. He'll probably do his damnedest to piss someone off. Tell his waiter to be careful with him."

Charles leaned on his hands, "So talk to me. Tell me about what happened with Shaw that you feel so much animosity toward him."

Erik frowned. Shaw was a topic he usually avoided but despite that he found himself telling Charles everything. He told him about his time with Shaw as his mentor and explained how Shaw had never really gotten over how such talent had gotten away from him. Shaw had been trying to bring about his ruin since he'd found a new mentor.

Forty-five minutes later, Erik was called to Shaw's table. The man had sent back a half eaten meal and complained that the replacement was cold, after which he had demanded to see the owner of the establishment.

Erik smiled as he approached the table. "How can I help you this evening?"

"Erik," Shaw leered, "I had no idea you owned this lovely little restaurant."

"Yes," Erik kept his smile in place but his fists clenched at his sides. "So, what can I do for you?"

"I'm afraid I've received two unsatisfactory meals tonight," Shaw said.

"I'm quite sorry about that." Erik frowned. "I will retrieve the next plate myself, it's on the house."

Shaw smirked, "That would be fantastic."

Erik clenched his teeth as he turned toward the kitchen. He made a detour to his office where he threw on his chef's jacket. He calmly walked into the kitchen but with the waves of anger he was giving off he may as well have stormed in. Nearly everyone in the kitchen froze and stared at them.

He stared back, "What are you doing? Back to work."

Hank raised both brows in question.

"Shaw sent back another meal, said it was cold." Erik resisted the urge to throw the dish in his hand across the kitchen, that would cause a mess.

Hank sighed and turned, requesting yet another dish for Shaw. When the plate was slid onto the counter, Erik moved past Hank and grabbed it. He finished the prep and returned with the dish to Shaw's table.

"I do hope this is satisfactory," Erik drawled.

Shaw took his time taking the first bite. His mouth briefly drew down into a scowl before snapping back up into a smile, a fake smile, "Wonderful. Thank you."

Erik let himself be a bit smug, "Is there anything else I can get you or your lady friend, Shaw?"

Shaw sneered up at him, "I do believe we're fine."

"Actually," the blonde across from him said, "I could use another glass of this wonderful wine."

"Of course," Erik said, when he returned with the bottle Shaw was glaring across at the woman but she seemed to be ignoring him.

"Thank you," She said, smiling suggestively up at him.

Erik ignored her and opted to return to Charles after telling them to call if they needed anything else.

Erik pinched the bridge of his nose when he finally sat down.

"He actually greatly enjoyed the first meal he received, almost regretted sending it back," Charles said. "I've been watching him out of the corner of my eye. His face is rather easy to read."

"I know," Erik nodded.

"His restaurant is probably not doing well. He's scoping out his competition." Charles continued.

Erik smiled, "He knew that I owned this restaurant."

"He was hoping it wouldn't be any good. He's rather angry that it is," Charles returned his smile. "Ah, you should see his face now."

Erik bit back a laugh. "My night would have been infinitely worse without you here." He said and was a bit stunned by his forwardness.

"I try my best," Charles responded. They fell back into easy conversation as if Shaw hadn't even been in the restaurant.

Sebasian Shaw liked to think that he was a man who was easy to please. He didn't want much, for the most part he had everything he wanted in excess, and he figured that what he did want certainly wasn't asking for a whole lot. Shaw knew the he was a generous man and while perhaps not kind he was certainly forgiving and never angry or spiteful. So then why should he not get the simple things he wanted?

Anyone who was acquainted with Shaw knew that this wasn't true. Shaw was never generous or forgiving; he was always angry and spiteful. He was impossible to please; especially when the one thing Shaw wanted most of all was something that he would never have.

All Shaw wanted was to end Erik Lehnsherr.

Erik had affronted him. Shaw could have been famous as the mentor of the amazing talent. He could have been at the top of the industry but the damn kid had slipped right past him. Now Erik sat on the top instead of Shaw and this irked Shaw more than he cared to let on. In fact, it infuriated him. Now, Shaw was out for blood in a sense. He wanted the damn restaurant to fail. He wanted it to crash and burn. That was the whole purpose of Hellfire, to compete with The Great White and eventually force it out of business. The scheme was failing, Shaw's restaurant was failing. Erik's restaurant was beginning to thrive and Shaw knew exactly why.

There was a crash as Shaw whipped a glass figurine from his desk, it exploded against the wall. Emma flinched slightly in her seat.

"He's better than me," Shaw muttered under his breath. It wasn't meant for Emma but she heard anyway.

"Certainly not," She said haughtily, "He hasn't the experience that you do."

"Oh but he has enough experience and more than enough talent," Shaw ground out. "The food was amazing tonight. The service was astounding. I had almost hoped to cause a scene but the situation was handled with poise and he came out unscathed."

Shaw stood, shoving his chair back so fast it clattered to the floor. He began to pace behind his desk, thoughts racing through his head. Here he was, desperately trying to pull this restaurant together and Erik was successfully climbing the ladder. It wasn't as if Shaw couldn't pull himself out of a failed restaurant. He wouldn't be able to open another, he would be able to go back to the kitchen but just the thought of failing because of that brat and his little posse killed him. He would never recover from Erik trouncing him.

Charles had begun to frequent the restaurant, having dinner there nearly every night. He became a common presence and soon knew the staff very well including Alex, Sean and Hank. Nearly every time Charles had dinner there, Erik sat and talked with him until closing time. The two quickly became quite close but swore to any who asked that they were only very good friends.

Yet, Erik found himself beginning to plan the menu according to what he thought Charles would like. He looked forward to their conversations every night and if for some reason Charles didn't come to the restaurant for dinner, Erik would be extremely disappointed.

Equally, Charles found himself trying to make it to the restaurant no matter what, taking papers home to grade and trying to keep meetings he scheduled himself to earlier in the day rather than later. He hated missing his time with Erik.

Before they knew it, two months had passed and their routine had yet to be broken.

Erik paced the small space of his office, worried that Charles wouldn't come for dinner tonight. He had said nothing to suggest otherwise and Raven had sworn that he was coming but still with what he had planned Erik was worried. He had intended to sit with Charles and perhaps eat dinner with him but another idea had struck him. He'd planned everything carefully but the plan wouldn't work if Charles didn't show up and Erik wanted everything to be perfect.

Raven poked her head into the office and smirked, "He's here. You can stop pacing now."

Erik sent her a withering look.

"Go on, go back to the kitchen and start on whatever you were going to make him." Her smirk widened and she turned away.

Erik sighed in relief and smoothed his hands over his pristine white chef's jacket. He straightened his shoulders and left his office.

When he entered the kitchen, things stilled for a moment. Everyone took in his appearance slightly stunned.

Hank looked at him, a question in his eyes.

Erik shook his head. He may be a master chef, not to mention he owned the restaurant, but Hank still ran the kitchen tonight. He was here for one reason. "Next time, maybe, but tonight I'm only making food for one person."

Hank's eyes widened a bit in surprise and a blush tinged his cheeks but a small smile also graced his lips, he knew exactly who Erik was making dinner for. As Erik set about his work, Hank turned back to coordinating the others.

Raven approached Charles table with a smile, a bottle of wine already in hand. "Good evening." She greeted.

Charles grinned back, "What's this? I haven't even asked for any wine yet."

"Tonight we have a surprise for you," Raven smiled.

"I see," Charles said, "So I won't be needing this menu?"

"Nope," Raven said as she poured wine into his glass. She lifted the menu from his grasp and said, "I'll be back with your meal. Call if you need something."

When Raven next came to his table, she was carrying his meal and the bottle of wine to refill his glass.

"What is it?" Charles asked as she approached.

She laughed, "Just eat it. I know for a fact you'll like it."

She set the dish in front of him and for a moment he admired the artful way the dish was put together. It looked and smelled delicious. He discovered as soon as he took the first bite that it tasted eve better than it smelled. He savored the food to the utmost possibility. He ate slow, letting the decadent flavor last. When he finished he was thoroughly satisfied.

Raven approached the table and smiled down at Charles, "Can I clear anything?"

"Raven, that was wonderful," Charles grinned back up at her, "Tell Hank he's outdone himself tonight. That was quite possibly the best thing I've ever eaten."

Raven smirked and Charles' brows drew together in confusion, "Oh, Hank didn't prepare your meal tonight."

"I did," Charles looked behind Raven to see Erik standing holding a plate. He looked quite handsome in the chef's jacket and even the baggy black pants looked good on him.

Erik reached around Raven and set the plate in front of Charles. It was such a gorgeous looking desert, fabulously decorated and presented with such flourish, that Charles almost didn't want to cut into it.

Charles looked up at Erik. "But Raven told me you aren't really in the kitchen much any more."

"She would be correct. For however much I love to be in the kitchen I'm busy with other things." Erik stated.

"So you took over for Hank tonight?"

"No, this is just for you," Erik smiled, sliding into the seat across from him.

Charles breath snagged briefly in his throat and his heart stuttered at the comment. He thought that perhaps his reaction was a bit of an over reaction but he couldn't help the swell of emotion at Erik's words. He realized then exactly how deep his affections for this man ran, how far gone he already was.

Raven sidled away unnoticed. Charles was the last person in her section as it was getting rather late, so she slipped back to the kitchen and stayed out of the way. When the restaurant emptied of all customers, the staff found themselves in the kitchen. Most of the kitchen staff had left but Raven, Hank, Sean, Alex, Armando, and Angel stood behind the doors, peeking out the windows, watching the two still remaining in the restaurant.

Charles was lazily playing with his fork. He still had desert left that on occasion he would take a bite of but really all he was focusing on was Erik. Erik leaned on a palm and stared across the table at the other man, a small smile on his lips. The two chatted idly and were completely oblivious to the rest of the world. When they didn't speak they sat together in comfortable silence.

"They are so in love with each other," Sean commented.

Raven smacked him upside the head for interrupting the silence.

"What?" He complained, "It's true."

"We know," The rest of the group hissed.

"We've been watching them fall in love for two months, Sean," Angel rolled her eyes.

"Only they won't admit that they see each other as more than friends." Raven growled.

"We could," Alex paused, "try to set the up."

Raven looked in his direction, "You know, that's not a completely bad idea."

"Uh," Alex frowned, "Thanks? I think."

The attention of the group was drawn away from the windows and a plan was put together. It was far past closing by the time they parted. Raven made everyone leave out the back entrance so as not to disturb Charles and Erik. When everyone cleared out, only Hank and Raven were left.

"You sure you can handle your part?" Raven smirked.

"You're the one doing most of the work, I can handle a little effort." Hank smiled.

Raven boosted herself up on one of the metal counters and looked up at Hank. "That's good," She smiled.

Hank moved a bit closer to her until he was standing in front of her but still a sizeable distance away, "You know, uh," He stumbled over his words, "it's been…great working with you."

Raven's eye lids dropped a bit and her smile became lazy, "It's been nice to work with you, too."

Hank stood staring at her a bit awkwardly and said nothing else.

"You know, you can come a little closer." She said.

He stepped marginally closer.

She laughed and reached out to grab him by the belt and pull him closer. She wrapped her arms loosely around his waist, "That's better."

"Raven, I-"

She cut him off with a shake of her head and he leaned closer ever so slowly. She moved up to meet him in the middle and-

"Kinky," Hank jerked back as if he had been shot and both looked wide eyed at the doorway of the kitchen where Erik and Charles stood, Erik smirking and Charles trying to smother his laugher.

Raven sent a disdainful looked and jumped off the counter to grab her things. She stepped close to Hank, whose cheeks were cherry red, ignoring the other two and pecked him on the cheek, saying, "See you later, Hank."

She glared at the two men as she passed them and snapped, "Let's go, Charles." Charles turned to Erik and said goodbye.

As the two left the kitchen she heard Erik say to Hank, with laughter in his voice. "You know, that's unsanitary."

She growled. Damn it, now he was never going to kiss her and here she was trying to get the two assholes together. She should just leave them to flounder on their own.

She was so angry on the ride home that she forgot the first part of the plan.

The next morning on the drive into the city Raven talked to Charles as if the whole Hank thing hadn't happened. Charles had been sure that Raven would never mention the other night again.

"How was dinner last night?" She asked.

"Fantastic," Charles smiled, "Erik is a fabulous chef."

Raven nodded, "You like him."

Charles frowned, "Raven, we've had this discussion before. We're just friends."

Raven snorted, "Right."

Charles stayed quiet."He likes you," She said.

"Raven," Charles cautioned.

"I'm serious," Raven insisted.

"Raven!" He snapped.

Raven sighed, with him resisting so hard, this might be harder than she had thought.

Charles' thoughts spun in his head all day after that conversation in the car. All he could think about was Erik. He cursed his luck. After realizing last night that he was in love with Erik, he'd want to avoid thinking about it. He didn't want to ruin such a good friendship with his feelings.

His lectures that day were scattered and unfocused. He drifted off quite a few times the first class of the day. By his second class of the day he was drifting so often that he simply couldn't focus.

"Professor Xavier?" He broke from his thoughts at a call from one of his students.

He turned and looked out on the lecture hall. "I'm sorry. I just lost my train of thought."

"Again?" The same student asked incredulously.

Charles sighed and shook his head, "Right." He ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the table in front of him. "Ok, class is over for the day. We'll pick up where we've left off today."

As the students filtered from the room, his pulled out his laptop to email the students in his last class of the day, informing them that class was canceled. Once he was finished, he snapped his laptop shut and leaned forward on the table again, dropping his head to stare at its surface.

Charles sighed once more and grabbed his bag, slipping his laptop back into it. He headed to his office, thoughts still preoccupied by Erik, but determined not to let those thought interfere anymore with his work. When he finally shut his office door, he leaned back against it and scrubbed his hands over his face.

He didn't get much done though; every so often a student would knock on the door. He hadn't realized how bad he had been that day but many of the students came to ask if something had been wrong earlier. He turned them away fairly quickly though. Of course he had the occasional student who actually had a question about homework or the lecture. The way he had been distracted this morning, he had a large handful of students from his first class of the day come to his office to clarify points from the lecture. The one on one talks helped distract him for a bit but as soon as students stopped knocking on his door; he found his thoughts flitting right back to Erik.

He didn't go to the restaurant that night. He didn't think he could see Erik without quite embarrassingly confessing his undying love for the man.

His mind would be calmer tomorrow and he would certainly be able to handle spending his evening with Erik as usual.

Erik sequestered himself in his office that night. He didn't this he would be of much help in his sour mood and he didn't want his dismay and hurt to cloud the mood of the restaurant and he knew that anyone who looked at him could probably tell he wasn't that happy. Usually, he was composed no matter what but things were different dealing with Charles.

He had waited for a good forty minutes for Charles to show up before he decided that he wasn't coming.

Perhaps last night he'd gone too far. Too far with preparing dinner especially for Charles, too far with the looks he knew he'd been giving his friend the other night. He wondered if Charles knew now and had decided to keep away from him. He certainly didn't want to make the man uncomfortable with his feelings but it wasn't as if he could control them. It hurt to think that maybe the man he loved was avoiding him. He thought that this hurt more than a face to face rejection.

When the door creaked open, he looked up from the paperwork he'd forced himself to complete. He saw Raven peeking through the doorway.

"I thought I'd let you know that it's closing time," She said.

He nodded and turned back to his paper work.

Raven frowned, "Are you ok? You've been in here all night."

"Fine, Raven," He dismissed, "Have a nice night."

Raven was no where near convinced but she turned anyway. When she slipped into the car, she glared at Charles. "Why the hell weren't you here for dinner? You could have told me you weren't coming."

"Sorry," He replied, "I had students coming in half the night distracting me from work. By the time I finished it was already 10:30. I'll be in tomorrow night, ok?"

Raven nodded, knowing he wouldn't lie to her.

As he said, Charles appeared at his usual time for dinner. He greeted Erik like he would any friend, as if he hadn't thought about him all the previous day and night. When Erik slid in across from Charles, the two talked as if nothing was any different at all. They didn't notice the disappointed looks the rest of the staff was shooting them. Raven growled every time she looked at them, annoyed at how they were acting like good friends instead of how they had the night Erik had prepared Charles dinner.

When Charles received his bill that night Erik snatched it up and said, "What did I say the other night?"

Charles frowned and tried to grab the bill from Erik's hands. Erik waved it just beyond his reach.

"You don't remember what I said about paying?"

Charles sighed and dropped his hands back to the table, "You told me it would hurt your feelings if I paid for the meal you had slaved over just for me. Which I found rather uncharacteristic of you."

"What? Playing dirty?" Erik smirked.

"No, my friend," Charles laughed, "You always play dirty."

"Then what?"

"Bringing your hurt feelings blatantly into the matter."

Erik snorted, "Well, you didn't want to hurt my feelings the other night, what's changed?"

"You didn't cook me dinner tonight," Charles pointed out. "Plus I was sure you only meant that night."

"No," Erik shook his head, "There is no need for you to pay. You are here almost every night Charles. Everyone here knows you and is a friend to you. Not to mention you've brought in a great many customers. You have no idea how many times I've heard 'Oh, Charles Xavier recommended you' or 'The professor said he had fantastic food here.' It makes me wonder if all you talk about is my restaurant."

Charles shook his head, "Give me my bill. I am paying."

"No, you're no-" He was cut short by a crashing from the kitchen. Both men turned their gazes in that direction as they heard the shattering of glass. "Damn it." Erik jumped up and headed toward the kitchen. Charles did a little math in his head and put the proper amount of money on the table before getting up and following Erik to the kitchen.

It was a good thing the restaurant was empty with the disaster in the kitchen. Everyone gathered in the doorway and stared. Erik was standing over the mess looking less than happy.

"God d-" He cut himself short, "Sean, how is it that you manage…every time…Clean it up!"

Before Erik could turn back toward him Charles whispered to Armando that the proper amount for his bill was on the table and Erik had stolen his bill so clean it up before he noticed the money. Armando chuckled but did as he was told.

Charles smiled when Erik turned back to him. "I think it's time for me to get home."

Erik nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Of course," Charles said and then turned to Raven, "Ready?"

The next day, Raven and Angel were walking to work together. They'd taken to the habit of doing so when they'd found that their last classes ended at the same time on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Raven turned to Angel and said, "I think that this is going to be harder than we thought."

"I think you're right," Angel sighed.

"Did you see how they acted last night?"

"They acted more detached than they did on the first day they met," Angel frowned.

"Well, we continue with the plan," Raven stated, "I'm still ok to come to your place tonight, right? No extreme amounts of homework popping up on you?"

"We're absolutely ok with that," Angel smiled, "I got plenty of junk food we really shouldn't eat and that new movie with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender in it."

Raven drooled, "They're so hot."

"You know," Angel commented off handedly, "James sort of looks like your brother."

"And Michael looks like Erik but we're going to ignore that completly because otherwise it just spoils things." Raven grimaced.

Angel laughed.

Erik was talking to the last customers at the door. They were regulars, not as regular as Charles but they came in at least once a week.

Charles waved Moira over and slipped money into her hand, "That will cover my bill." He smiled and waved her away, turning his attention back to Erik. He figured he was going to have to be sneaky like this every night in order to get his bill paid.

Angel and Raven were the last of the staff to depart, leaving Charles and Erik alone. As they passed the table the two sat at Raven called out, "Charles, I'm going to Angel's place tonight. I'll just stay with her and go to class from there tomorrow morning. Have fun tonight."

Charles nodded and continued speaking with Erik.

This was only Plan A but they wanted it to be enough. Raven was hoping that with her out of the house Charles may invite Erik back. Though the mansion was obviously large, she and Charles had rooms in the same wing.

Raven was disappointed the next day when she ran into Charles on campus and asked him how his night had been.

"Lonely," Charles shrugged. "It's quiet as is but without you there the place felt dead. I just did some work and went to bed."

Raven contemplated that he could be lying to her but she didn't entertain the thought very long. She knew he wasn't lying but she certainly wished he had been. She sighed, time for Plan B.

At the restaurant after her shift was over, she walked up to Charles and held out a hand, "Can I have the keys?"

Charles frowned, "What for?"

"We want to go see a late movie, don't be surprised if I'm home late. Or I could just stay at Angel's again tonight." Raven said.

Charles gave her a stern look and she choked back a groan. She hated the rare moments when he acted like a parent instead of her brother, she was almost twenty. "Who is 'we'?"

"Hank, Angel, Armando, Alex, Sean, the staff, we," Raven said rolling her eyes.

"What movie?"

"Captain America, I think?" Raven answered.

"And how am I supposed to get home?" Charles raised a brow.

"Erik can give you a ride," Raven smiled.

Charles glanced at Erik, who shrugged and gave a brief nod.

"See?" She grinned wider.

Charles fished out his keys, "Be careful. If it ends too late I would rather you stayed at Angel's than drive all the way out to Westchester. I trust you not to do anything stupid or irresponsible."

Raven sighed and snatched the keys. She took off toward the door where the rest of the group waited.

Erik straddled his bike, sitting behind the restaurant waiting for Charles. He heard the crunch of footsteps coming down the alley. A group of young men rounded the corner and he stared at them for a moment. He began to turn his attention back to the door, uninterested but one called out.

"Hey!" He seemed satisfied when Erik slowly turned his attention back to them. "You Erik Lehnsherr?"

Erik blinked but suddenly began to laugh, "Don't tell me, Shaw sent you?"

The thugs looked between each other, a bit confused.

"Listen," Erik said, "Why don't you just turn right back around and be on your way. I don't care how much he paid you. It would be a mistake to try to take me down, believe me."

Charles chose that moment to appear, "Erik, toss me the keys and I'll lock-" Charles stopped and took in the scene before him. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "What is this? Are we the mafia now? Sending thugs to beat each other up?"

"Hey," Erik called, affronted, "I have done nothing but run my restaurant. Shaw is doing all the sending of thugs."

Charles snorted, "Shaw is acting like a five-year-old who had his favorite toy taken from him."

"You don't have to tell me," Erik shook his head.

Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He fished out a few hundreds and walked up to the four men. "Here you go," He waved the bills at them. "I'm sure Shaw gave you more but," He shrugged, "Just take it and be on your way."

Erik scowled at Charles, "This is my problem not yours."

Charles raised a brow, "Would you rather I leave you to get beaten up then?"

"I can handle this myself," Erik growled.

"Look, I don't care how well you fight, one against four is a death sentence." Charles scoffed.

Erik rolled his eyes, "I would be fine."

Charles turned his attention back to the four and waved the money again.

The four looked between each other, highly confused by the situation. One shrugged and reached for the money before turning away, the others followed slowly.

"Oh and make sure you steer clear of Shaw. He may not be happy when he finds out you didn't do your job."

"Don't provoke them Charles," Erik grumbled.

Charles laughed once they were gone, "I don't think Shaw looked very long. He probably just pulled four boys off the street."

Erik glared, "You certainly handled that calmly. What if they had seriously been dangerous?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Charles countered, "But they weren't so we're ok. Now toss me the keys. I'll lock up."

Erik gritted his teeth but fished out the keys and tossed them to Charles anyway. He pressed his helmet on and waited for Charles to do the same before climbing on behind him and wrapping his arms tightly around Erik's waist.

Charles resisted the urge to press himself closer to Erik's back as they sped toward Westchester. As it was, having his arms wrapped around the other man's waist was hard enough without demanding that Erik pull over so he could shag him right there on the street. He didn't know that Erik was thinking generally the same thing.

When they pulled up in front of the mansion, Charles jumped off the bike perhaps a little too fast. He pulled off his helmet at the same time that Erik pulled off his own. For a moment Charles watched Erik stare up at the mansion in awe. He couldn't fight down the small hope he had that he could get the other man to stay.

"You sure you want to make the drive back to the city? It's a long way," Charles asked, curling his fingers around the edge of the helmet a little tighter. "We could play a game of chess. And there are plenty of unused rooms."

Erik shook his head, "No, that's fine. I promise I'll make it back to the city in one piece."

Charles' smile was tight, "Alright." He passed his helmet to Erik and watched as he stowed it away. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Watch out for more thugs."

Erik gave him a close lipped smile and slipped his helmet back on. Charles watched as Erik disappeared down the drive before he turned to enter the dark mansion.

The entire drive back to the city Erik wondered what would have happened had he agreed to stay at Westchester that night. He was fairly sure he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from following Charles into his bedroom.

That night Erik sat alone in his apartment, a bit disappointed that he hadn't accepted Charles' invitation to stay at Westchester and unable to sleep for the thought of what may have transpired had he stayed. He flipped through the newspaper until he came to the food reviews. His eyes caught on one particular review, titled 'Hellfire doesn't burn all that hot.' This certainly brightened Erik's mood a bit. The review was near scathing, going on about terrible service from the moment you stepped in the door to bland, forgettable food. The restaurant was given only ½ a star. Erik laughed as he read through the review. He glanced around the page and found the review he had initially been looking for of his own restaurant. As compared to Shaw's his review was fantastic. The critic raved about the food and the service. The final verdict was four and ½ stars of five. He wondered idly where the ½ had been deducted but it didn't particularly matter when he had a near perfect score and he was still singing with joy over Shaw's terrible review.

And Erik now knew the reason for Shaw's obviously hasty attempt with sending the punks that night. He just couldn't help his amusement at the whole situation.

Shaw glared across his desk at Janos, it was extremely early but Shaw wasn't about to wait any longer to confront his head chef about this. He'd seen the article late yesterday and it had been a miracle he hadn't tracked the man down then. Rashly he'd dragged in four rough looking boys and sent them after Erik. He was fairly certain that that little scheme would fail but if it didn't he wouldn't complain.

Shaw angrily flipped the paper at Janos and slammed a hand down on his desk.

"What the hell is this?"

Janos shrugged, "A bad review, I know I saw it already."

"Are you trying to run me to ruin?" The words spilled through grit teeth. "Do you want to be fired? You're serving up bland, forgettable food?"

"Look," Janos said, "I can make amazing South American food. I can make great food for this restaurant too but you keep tampering with my damned dishes. Why did you hire me? Why aren't you in the kitchen if you want to control it so bad? Let me do my damned job and at least the food part of that review wouldn't have been so bad."

Shaw's gaze blazed hotter, "If you weren't so talented in your own right I would fire you right now."

Janos looked unimpressed by the threat and merely shrugged.

Shaw bit back a snarl, "Get out of my office."

Janos stood up calmly and walked away. When he was in the doorway he turned and said, "Remember that review complained about service too. Maybe you should consider firing the ice queen and the rest of the wait staff. They certainly don't know how to treat your customers right."

When the door slammed shut behind him, Janos heard something smash against it. He smirked and, pocketing his hands, walked back to the kitchen. If he didn't need this job, he'd be gone. As it was, this restaurant was ruining his reputation. As soon as he found another position he was gone, he just hoped he found one before this place went under.

Raven was disappointed that she didn't see Erik's motorbike in the drive when she pulled up to the mansion around nine the next morning. She found Charles already awake and in the kitchen making coffee.

"Erik didn't stay?"

Charles shook his head, "I tried to get him to but he wouldn't."

Raven frowned, "He couldn't have gotten back to the city until around two in the morning."

Charles nodded, "Sounds about right."

Raven heaved an exasperated breath and turned to leave the kitchen. "You two."

Charles blinked at her retreating back and chose to ignore the comment. "Where are you going?" He yelled at her back.

"Back to bed," She growled, "It's Saturday, I don't have class today. Or work for that matter."

When she closed the door to her room, she immediately reached for her phone. She sent out a mass text to everyone saying 'Plan B failed. On to Plan C.'

Later that day, Raven wandered into Charles study and sat in a chair across from the desk where he sat.

"Hey, let's go into the city tomorrow and have lunch."

Charles looked up and smiled, "Alright there's a nice café Erik told me about that I'd like to try anyway."

After Raven left Charles' study, she pulled out her phone and texted the name of the café to Hank.

"Are you sure you know where this place is?" Raven asked Charles.

"Yes, I know where it is," Charles grumbled. "Why are you so impatient? We're not on a schedule."

Raven sighed. As they rounded the corner, she saw Hank approaching with Erik. She smiled at them. Hank pointed in their direction and Erik gave a slight wave before pocketing his hands again.

She heard Hank say, "Oh! I forgot! I have to go….pick up…eggs. Yes, I have to pick up eggs." He then turned in the other direction and hurried away saying over his shoulder. "Sorry, Erik. You can eat with Charles and Raven."

Erik turned and yelled at him, "Eggs? Hank, what the hell? You're the one who dragged me here!" He sighed and turned back around as Charles and Raven approached.

"That was odd," Charles commented.

"Charles," Raven's eyes grew wide. "I forgot I had to do something on campus today."

"On a Sunday?" Charles asked.

"Yes, yes, very important," She then hurried off after Hank.

"Raven, what are you…?" He sighed and looked at Erik. "Would you like to have lunch with me?"

Erik shrugged and looked into the café that they stood outside of, "I was just going here with Hank."

"Me, too. With Raven," Charles said.

Erik pulled open the door and followed Charles in. As they sat Charles asked, "Why do I get the feeling they planned this?"

Erik laughed, "They probably did."

Both looked at each other and realized what this implied. They dismissed the subject immediately.

Charles chose to instead think about the fact that this was the first time that he would be spending time with Erik outside the restaurant. He tried not to think that he was rather ecstatic about the prospect even if they were going to do essentially the same thing they usually did.

"So," Charles said, "What do your Sundays usually look like?"

Erik shrugged, "Depends. Sitting alone at home or in my office doing some sort of paper work. Yours?"

"Hmm," Charles tapped his chin lightly in thought, "Usually I stay at home, sometimes I'm grading papers or assignments, sometimes I'm not."

They continued with light conversation until Charles glanced at his watch a few hours later.

He sighed, "I'm afraid Raven made away with the keys to the car and I haven't the slightest idea what she's up to. I'll have to call her."

"I could drive you back, my bike is down the street," Erik jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

Charles chuckled, "I won't be having you driving all the way out to Westchester if you're not going to stay."

Erik shook his head, "I'm afraid I wouldn't be. Have to be in to the restaurant early in the morning."

Charles rolled his eyes. "Well, it's still early. I suppose I can leave Raven alone for a bit longer. Would you like to catch a matinee with me?"

Erik blinked, "Why not, it's been a long time since I've been to a show."

Charles smiled and promptly ignored the fact that this was suddenly becoming much more of a date than Raven had probably intended.

Azazel sidled casually up to Janos and glanced down at the shorter man, "Found any place yet?"

Janos shook his head and continued to flip though the paper, "You?"

"Nope," Azazel pocketed his hands, "I have heard through the grapevine that Lehnsherr is looking to hire another person to kitchen staff."

Janos smirked, "Wouldn't that just tickle Shaw pink?"

Azazel laughed, "Absolutely."

"So how much longer do you give it?"

"A few weeks," Azazel shrugged, "Shaw knows it's going to happen now but he's trying to hold on hoping some miracle will happen I guess."

Janos snorted, "Right. Well let me know if you happen to hear anything else."

"You too," Azazel said as he walked away.

The next Friday, Raven sighed as she watched them from the kitchen. "I give up."

"They're hopeless," Sean waved a hand in their direction and went back to the dishes, trying extremely hard not to drop any.

"Hopelessly in love," Angel bit out, "and hopelessly unaware of the other's mutual feelings."

One by one they turned from the door and left to return home. Soon Raven sat in the kitchen with only Hank.

"Hey," She said.

"Hey what?"

She chuckled, "What do you say to a date tomorrow? We can catch a late movie."

Hank's cheeks flamed and his eyes grew wide. "To…tomorrow? Sure, sure. Yeah."

Raven smiled slowly. "Good."

Charles and Erik peered through the windows on the door. As Erik reached to push the door open, Charles said, "Raven will hate us forever if we interrupt them again."

Erik smirked, "But it's just so much fun."

Charles chuckled, "You are right about that but I do have to live with her."

"So, what we wait until they're ready to leave? You want to go home."

Charles shrugged, "I don't have to go now. Leaving them alone just means I get to spend a bit more time with you."

Erik blinked down at Charles. The other man briefly met his gaze but he quickly turned his eyes away. Erik smiled when he noticed the tips of Charles's ears going red.

Erik chuckled, "Alright we'll wait for them to come to us."

The restaurant wasn't vacated until a great deal of time later.

On Saturday night, Raven and Hank took off as soon as the restaurant was closed. The others departed more slowly. In an unusual occurrence, Charles and Erik were the last in the restaurant before 11:30.

"You keep telling me that you're rather good at chess but we've yet to play," Charles commented off handedly.

"When you get a chess set, we'll play," Erik smirked.

"I have a perfectly good chess set at the mansion. Let's go, right now. Lock up, follow me there and we'll play as soon as we reach the study." Charles said.

"I'm not so sure Charles," Erik sighed, "You're quite far out of the city."

Charles grinned, "You're just scared I'll beat you."

Erik glared, "Are you challenging me?"

Charles set his chin on his palm, "I do believe I am, Mr. Lehnsherr."

Erik gaze sharpened and his lips quirked slightly up, "Well, then I suppose I'll have to accept, Mr. Xavier."

When they arrived at the mansion, Erik followed Charles into the large garage instead of parking out front. He parked his motorbike next to Charles' own bikes. When he turned, he saw Charles waiting for him next to a door that he could only assume led into the house.

As Erik followed Charles through the house, he admired the simple beauty of the mansion. Charles watched him as they walked, a smile curving his lips. He gestured to a door on the right and Erik reached for the knob. He peered into the room and realized that it was the study Charles had mentioned earlier. Erik headed for the table where he saw a nice metal chess set resting. He sat in one of the plush chairs next to the table and Charles sat in the one across from him.

The game started out fine but Erik soon found his concentration waning as he looked up at Charles and was unable to look away. He watched Charles focus on the game, a wrinkle forming between his brows as he drew them together in thought. If Erik was completely honest, he thought that it was absolutely adorable. His lips lifted at the corners at his thoughts. Charles' tongue darted out to wet his lips and Erik eyes then fixed themselves upon those red lips. He didn't notice when Charles made his move but he did notice when Charles looked up at him.

"Erik?" Charles smiled.

"Wh-" He stuttered and cleared his throat to cover it up. "What?"

Charles pointed down and said, "The board is down here. Are you alright?"

"Ah," Erik's cheeks tinged pink, "Yes."

He immediately turned his attention back to the game and worked to keep his gaze from Charles. When he did chance a glance back up at Charles, the other man was smirking, his elbows resting on the arms of the chair and his fingers pressed together at their tips in front of him. Erik resisted the urge to sweep the game aside, jump across the table and ravish him.

Charles lean forward after Erik had moved his piece. Erik watched the fabric of Charles' shirt pull tight as he moved.

"Check," Charles called and Erik's gaze shot down. Charles moved his finger to the top of Erik's king and he continued, "mate."

Erik watched at Charles knocked the piece over.

"You were unbelievably distracted during the game so I'm guessing you don't always play this abominably." Charles smirked again.

"Distracted?" Erik asked. "I haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about."

"Oh, so then you always place this bad," Charles said and Erik opened his mouth to protest but he was interrupted. "And you weren't staring at me earlier?"

Erik's eyes widened slightly.

Charles moved then. He practically climbed across the table, placing his hands on its surface for balance. He leaned forward until he reached Erik's lips with his own.

Erik's response was immediate. His hands surged up to rest on both sides of Charles' head, his lips working against the other man's. Charles did crawl across the table then, his legs pushing the chess board and pieces from the table as he pushed himself closer to Erik until he was nearly in the other man's lap.

They both parted, panting. Charles smiled and let out an airy chuckle as he set his forehead against Erik's. "There's really no need for you to drive back to the city tonight." His eyes met Erik's suggestively, "You can just stay here."

With that he pulled himself from the table and stood, he walked toward the door but paused to look back at the still seated Erik. He raised both brows and held out a hand, "Well?"

Erik smiled and pushed himself out of his seat. As he reached Charles, he slid his palm to the offered hand.

The moment the door to the bedroom clicked shut, Charles had his hands around Erik's neck, pulling him down into another kiss. Erik pulled Charles closer, pressing their bodies tight together as his tongue slid into Charles mouth.

Erik tentatively steered Charles back toward the bed until the backs of his legs brushed the mattress. The two tumbled down onto the bed, with Erik balancing over Charles.

Charles worked his hands up under Erik's turtleneck and ran his palms over the skin there. Still, Charles found that the shirt was in the way and he tugged at the offending article impatiently. Erik chuckled as he pulled away from Charles and jerked the turtleneck over his head, tossing it aside. Before Erik could connect his lips to Charles' skin again, Charles removed his own shirt and tossed it.

Erik smiled, pressing a kiss to Charles lips and moving down his jaw, pressing light kisses up to his ear and then down the column of his neck where he nipped and sucked at Charles' pulse.

Charles made a pleased noise at the back of his throat. He felt when his belt was popped open and pulled out of the loops that secured it. Charles looked down between them and noticed that Erik's own belt was long gone.

Charles felt his pants being pulled downward and lifted his hips. Erik grabbed them and tugged them the rest of the way off, flinging them over his shoulder.

In short order they were down to boxers and Erik was making his way down Charles body, hooking his fingers in the waist band of said boxers and slowly peeling them from him. When they were gone, Erik looked up at Charles from between his legs. Charles looked back flushed and panting. Erik then promptly wrapped a hand around Charles cock, placing a kiss on the head before darting his tongue out to lick. Charles gasped.

It was quite the obscene image, watching as Erik took him into his mouth and did wicked things with his tongue. When he began to hum, Charles threw his head back on a moan. His hands found their way into Erik's hair and he tugged lightly. "Erik, if you don't," He panted, "If you don't stop. I'm going to-"

Erik released him with a lewd pop. As he climbed up Charles body, Charles realized he was now completely naked as well. He hadn't a clue when Erik had managed that but he really didn't have time for thoughts like those anyway because Erik was upon him again, pressing his lips to Charles'.

There was a bit of shuffling at the table beside the bed and Charles realized Erik was searching for the lube. When the shuffling stopped, Charles heard the cap hit the floor.

Erik slicked his fingers liberally and then tossed the tube aside. He moved his hand to Charles' entrance and brushed the ring of muscle lightly. Charles gasped and tensed.

Erik frowned, "Charles, don't do that. Relax."

Charles gasped again and put a visible effort into relaxing. Erik pressed a finger in and let out a long groan at the tightness. Charles let loose a hiss and tensed again.

"Charles," Erik said, pressing a hand to the other man's stomach and running his thumb back and forth over his skin. "Breathe for me. Just relax."

"I've," Charles choked out, gasping, before blurting out the rest "I've never done this with a man before."

Erik looked up at Charles and blinked, then he chuckled, "I had guessed. It's alright Charles but you need to relax or you won't enjoy this at all. And we certainly can't have that."

Erik curled his finger and Charles gasped. He smirked, "I'm going to add a second, Charles."

Erik continued at a slow pace, thoroughly preparing Charles until he was whimper and pushing back against the fingers inside him.

"Erik, please," Charles begged. "I need- Erik."

Erik reached over and grabbed the condom off of the bedside table. Once he'd rolled it on, he grasped Charles hips, preventing him from moving, and positioned himself. He slowly pressed his cock into Charles. Charles let out a long hiss at the feeling, his eyes squeezing closed.

When Erik was fully seated, he didn't move. He waited until Charles relaxed, looking up at him with half lidded eyes, and gave an experimental roll of hips. Erik moaned at the feeling. He considered the movement his signal and drew himself out slowly to press back in with a snap of his hips. He kept his pace fairly easy and gentle despite wanting to give up all pretense and fuck Charles hard and fast.

It wasn't until Charles was writhing beneath him, whimpering, "Erik, Erik, I need- Go," He gasped. "Faster." Erik complied.

Erik thrust rapidly into Charles, watching the other man draw his brows tighter together and close his eyes, his jaw falling slightly open. Erik leaned forward and pressed his lips to Charles'. He processed the light brush of Charles fingertips on his shoulder before the hand dropped down nearly to where Erik's own hand rested on the crock of Charles' neck. Erik paused his hips, causing Charles to mewl in frustration at the stop in motion, and ran his hand up Charles' upper arm to his elbow. Charles' hand tried unsuccessfully to chase. Erik though lifted his hand, brushing Charles' forearm, and grasped the other man's hand in his own, twining their fingers as he pressed the joined hands into the bed next to Charles' head.

Erik's hips immediately resumed there motion pulling a strangled gasp from Charles. Erik changed the angle of his thrusts a bit and urged Charles to wrap his legs a little more securely around his waist. His first hard thrust in the new position drew a shout from Charles. He continued in a hard, rapid pace and Charles became progressively louder.

Erik knew that Charles was close; he reached between them and wrapped a hand around Charles' cock and began to stroke in time with his thrusts.

Charles called his name as he came, splashing his stomach and chest with white ribbons, and his whole body clenched. Erik let out a long groan at the sudden tightness. He continued to press into Charles with short, hard thrusts, riding out Charles' orgasm feeling his own coming upon him quickly. He grunted and buried his face in Charles neck when he followed him over the edge.

Neither moved for what felt like hours until Charles lazily drew they're still clasped hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to Erik's fingers.

"Erik, I love you," Charles murmured contentedly.

Erik rubbed his nose against Charles neck and smiled, "I love you, too."

Erik grumbled as he reluctantly pulled away from Charles' warmth to take care of the condom. He returned to the bed and Charles opened his arms to him. He slipped under the blankets and pulled the smaller man against him. They fell asleep pressed together, sated and exhausted.

Raven was a bit anxious when she walked into the mansion the next morning. She had gone to Hank's to watch a movie and they'd ended up falling asleep on the couch. Charles hadn't tried to call or text her but she was quite sure he couldn't be happy with her. She took the stairs as fast as she could and formulated her explanation as she approached her brother's room. She didn't bother knocking, as usual. As the door swung open, she froze, words dying on her tongue. Her jaw gaped as she stared at Erik and Charles curled together on the bed, clothes strewn around the room.

She didn't even breathe as she backed out of the room, closing the door as she went. As soon as the door closed and she had backed up to the middle of the hallway, she turned and began sprinting down the hall way. Her shout of excitement reverberated down the hall as she whipped out her phone.

Both Charles and Erik jerked awake at the sharp "YES!" from the hall. They blinked for a moment, trying to clear they're minds of the haze of sleep. Charles dragged in breath and rolled over, pressing his chest to Erik's.

"Morning," He murmured, pecking him on the lips.

Erik smiled, lazily, "Morning."

"I trust you'll be visiting the mansion a lot more then," Charles smirked.

Erik laughed, "Certainly, a lot more."

Raven knocked on the door of Erik's office before pushing it open slightly and peeking in. Erik and Charles stared back at her but they thankfully weren't in any sort of compromising situation.

"I know you were looking to hire on another chef in the kitchen, so I thought I should tell you to call Janos Quested soon." Raven grinned, "He might not be pleased with being dropped in rank but I know he needs the job."

The two men blinked back at her.

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Raven feigned surprise, "Shaw's restaurant is going under. He just can't complete with us."

Erik and Charles looked at each other. Charles broke into a wide grin.

"That's quite wonderful news, Raven." Erik responded.

"Isn't it?" Raven asked as she turned to leave. "Oh, and the bus boy is quite competent too. Might even make a good waiter. You know you could use another wait-staffer. It'd get you off the floor."

Erik smirked, "Thank you for your advice Raven. I'll keep it in mind."

When the door clicked shut, Erik looked back to Charles.

"I should tell you something," Charles stated.

Erik frowned. "What?"

"I got Shaw a job across the country," Charles explained with a lop-sided grin.

Erik blinked, "How did you…?"

"I made a phone call. Told an old friend I knew someone who was looking for a job and gave him Shaw's number. He called me back earlier and thanked me, said the guy took him up on his offer." Charles smirked.

Erik laughed, "You know we probably haven't heard the last of him."

Charles shrugged, "By the time he shows his face again, he won't even be able to touch you."

Erik grinned and pulled Charles closer to him, so that the smaller man perched on the edge of the desk in front of him. Erik wrapped his arms around Charles' waist and smiled up at him, murmuring, "I love you."

Charles' expression was soft as he looked down at Erik. "I told you things would turn out fine."

"I think," Erik commented, "that things are much more than fine."

Charles' smile turned sly as he leaned down, reaching out to pull Erik up to him. "I think you're right." He said, just before their lips met.


End file.
